Don’t give Hillary any ideas: In the middle of a discussion of whether the Democrats could ever embrace small government, Ross Douthat offers this interesting aside: “Though frankly, I think if a Democrat wants to win in ’08, he or she will have to come out for wiretapping at some point during the campaign.”

What the Washington Post “seeks” (I rather suspect that it already knows) to know would seem to be rather straight-forward: President Bush indicted that the ban on “cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment of detainees” is inconvenient and that he intends to (order others to) disregard it. Gen. Hayden (who, by virtue of his still being in uniform is an utterly inappropriate nominee for the CIA position) has telegraphed President Bush’s position. About the best that can be said for Gen. Hayden is that at least this time he didn’t lie when appearing before Congress. (“General Hayden could not explain coherently why he testified in 2002 that he had no authority to listen to Americans’ phone calls without a warrant, when the president had already given him that authority.” NYT Editorial, May 19.)

No doubt that by so ignoring the ban, the heretofore elusive bin Laden soon will be tracked down, the equally elusive WMDs will be located, our ports will become more secure, illegal immigration will slow to a trickle if not stop altogether, and President Bush’s prospects for the Nobel Peace Prize will be enhanced (a la Kissinger).

As far as Bono being the next Secretary of State, we’ve had a president who played saxophone, a pro wrestler become mayor, and an actor who became governor, so if Bono becomes the next secretary of state, maybe Madonna can run for president.

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The Thread is an in-depth look at how the major news events and controversies of the day are being viewed and debated across the online spectrum. Compiled by Peter Catapano, an editor in The Times’s Opinion section, the Thread is published every Saturday in response to breaking news.